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Can you optimize a Forum the way you can with a Blog?

by Blakos
9 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Basically, I am thinking of starting a forum, surrounding a niche and just as I would "posts" I would optimize my "threads"(locked/stickied).

Are there any "pros" and "cons" with using forums over blogs?

Anything else you can add to help me make my decision.

Also, would there be any benefits from using both?

Thanks in advanced.
#blog #forum #optimize
  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    It can work. The big problem with using a forum though is the time it takes to moderate it. You will get overrun with spammers. Blogs get some comment spam too, but it is far easier to deal with and in far less volumes than forums.
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    • Profile picture of the author Blakos
      Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

      It can work. The big problem with using a forum though is the time it takes to moderate it. You will get overrun with spammers. Blogs get some comment spam too, but it is far easier to deal with and in far less volumes than forums.
      Thank you for your input.
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    • Profile picture of the author Icematikx
      Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

      It can work. The big problem with using a forum though is the time it takes to moderate it. You will get overrun with spammers. Blogs get some comment spam too, but it is far easier to deal with and in far less volumes than forums.
      Bare in mind that their are dozens of plugins that prevent spam, such as captcha, and specific questions on registration (such as 2+2).
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      • Profile picture of the author Blakos
        Originally Posted by Icematikx View Post

        Bare in mind that their are dozens of plugins that prevent spam, such as captcha, and specific questions on registration (such as 2+2).
        Just the information I was waiting for, do you know much about how bots work? and how these captcha's can be bypassed by these bots?

        I understand a bot can be programmed for a specific site, if it was a static "2+2=" answer, but lets say I program a dynamic one(changes),could they bypass it by reverse engineering my code?

        Also with these plugins, are any known to be bullet proof?
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        • Profile picture of the author Icematikx
          Originally Posted by Blake Michelutti View Post

          Just the information I was waiting for, do you know much about how bots work? and how these captcha's can be bypassed by these bots?

          I understand a bot can be programmed for a specific site, if it was a static "2+2=" answer, but lets say I program a dynamic one(changes),could they bypass it by reverse engineering my code?

          Also with these plugins, are any known to be bullet proof?
          Bots can bypass Captcha codes rather easily. Bots will not be able to read a question and provide an automatic answer. They may prompt the user to enter the answer manually (which many will never bother with).

          It's always best to set a question that's specific to your niche. For example, Warrior Forum could ask:

          "What Does The Term Search Engine Optimization stand for?". The user simply enters "SEO" and is allowed to register.
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          • Profile picture of the author Blakos
            Originally Posted by Icematikx View Post

            Bots can bypass Captcha codes rather easily. Bots will not be able to read a question and provide an automatic answer. They may prompt the user to enter the answer manually (which many will never bother with).

            It's always best to set a question that's specific to your niche. For example, Warrior Forum could ask:

            "What Does The Term Search Engine Optimization stand for?". The user simply enters "SEO" and is allowed to register.
            I understand what you are trying to say, but I mean if I was to develop a bot, to spam a specific site, and reverse engineer there captcha system, I should be able to cripple the site, until "they" change it obviously, or am I making an assumption here?

            Basically, I am asking, is that form or "security" impossible to "secure", is there a better way?

            I am new to this stuff, but I am a programmer and won't find it hard to work out, I just need to understand the basics from a programmers point of view.
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  • Profile picture of the author oogyboogawa
    If someone deems it important enough to build or "train" a bot specifically for your forum, it's going to be tough to make it impossible to automate. But most of the forum posting bots are based on mass submission to a platform rather than specifically enabling submission to individual forums.
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    • Profile picture of the author Blakos
      Originally Posted by oogyboogawa View Post

      If someone deems it important enough to build or "train" a bot specifically for your forum, it's going to be tough to make it impossible to automate. But most of the forum posting bots are based on mass submission to a platform rather than specifically enabling submission to individual forums.
      Thank you for your input.
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  • Profile picture of the author minishuu
    Yes, this is possible. But i wont say that you can optimize each and every post that gets posted. As when you reach high levels of postings, its fairly impossible to do such promotion.
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